The Big Schlep

Une femme is not one of those people who considers it a point of honor to travel with only a carry-on. There's no way I'm leaving my tweezers behind, and the pitiful amount of personal products currently allowed would barely get me through a day.

For the last several years, we've traveled with a bulky, oversized wheeled duffel bag that more often than not exceeds airline weight limits when fully packed, and is a real drag (pun intended) to navigate through crowded airports. Plus, trying to discern your oversized black duffel bag from everyone else's on the baggage carousel can be frustrating. I warned mon mari earlier this year that we will be investing in some better luggage before our Paris trip.

Rather than one big suitcase, I'm thinking that two smaller will be more navigable and will help curb our overpacking impulse (ok, I'm being charitable...my DH's overpacking impulse). Researching online, 25" seems to be the recommended size for anything short of multi-week trips. The one brand and model that seems to keep popping up as a favorite in luggage reviews is this Eagle Creek "Tarmac 25" bag.

The company also offers a "No Matter What" repair policy, good news if, like us, you've had handles break, zippers broken by TSA inspectors, or any other wear or damage. Best thing, the bag is available in a color other than black! I'm thinking I'll order one prior to our upcoming August visit to the midwest to see my mom, and if we're happy, will order a second.

What size and brand of luggage do you prefer? Do you travel light or pack for all contingencies?

Packable Raincoats

I've been trying to find a link since yesterday for the packable raincoat I use, but the online company I purchased from last year seems to no longer be in business. However, I have seen these raincoats recently at Nordstrom's. Looking at mine now, the only brand information I can find is "MPM" as the coat is reversible and does not have any labels. The collar doubles as a generous hood, and this coat kept me quite dry during the periodic downpours we encountered while walking around the gardens at Versailles. When the sun comes out, it stows away nicely in the small shoulder pouch.

Edited to add: Thanks to Nancy in comments who identified the brand as Mycra Pac, I was able to locate online retailers. Here's one. And another.

Running With The Pack

Last year prior to my first trip to Paris, I obsessed for months about what to wear and pack. Between mon mari, who is a chronic over-packer, and my own desire to have whatever just-in-case items available for this most stylish of destinations, we ended up shlepping an oversized duffel and another wheeled bag both of which we checked, in addition to a wheeled carry-on bag. I wore probably half of what I'd packed, and getting all of that luggage through customs (especially on the way home where we were trying to make--and ultimately missed--a connecting flight), made me vow that a) I'd pack much lighter next time and b) we'd invest in some luggage that was better designed.

Style Spy last week linked to an item in Hadley Freeman's column on packing/overpacking. Hadley's packing philosophy? More is better!

For a start, being able to survive for two weeks with nothing but a pair of trousers, two tops, one dress, a pair of flip-flops, a receptacle to purify your urine and a spool of twine (or whatever) all squashed into a handbag is nothing to boast about.

...And moreover, would you wear the same shirt (or anything else) four times in a week at home? Of course you wouldn't. So why, in the name of all that is fragrant and sanitary, would you do so on holiday?

The development of my own packing modus operandi owes a great deal to the fear of having to wear dirty clothes. So I've erred in the past on the side of too much rather than too little. But the last two trips I've taken have helped me figure out which items are the essentials and which should be left at home. Strategies I've developed from my recent sojourns (and these apply mostly to visiting a single locale/climate per trip):

1. Pick one neutral for basics (pants, jackets, shoes, bag) and work around it. No surprise here, but black is my choice for all but tropical destinations.

2. Bring multiples of black and white t-shirts that are light enough to be used as layering pieces. (Banana Republic makes an excellent one.) A black t-shirt under a jacket can also look dressy enough for most venues with some jewelry or a scarf.

3. Bring scarves to accent and change the look of your neutral ensembles. (But you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?)

4. Bring 2-3 bags maximum - one for day, a small one for evening, and (optional) a bigger, lighter bag to be used for a personal carry-on item (for airlines that allow in addition to a carry-on bag).

5. Carry cell phone and laptop chargers with you. Lost luggage + dead cell phone = Extremely Grumpy Traveler.

6. If you've followed #1, you should be able to get by with two or three pair of shoes (wear one, pack 2).

7. Rolling some clothes, packing clothes individually in dry cleaning bags, and underpacking will all help prevent wrinkling. I do usually pack a small travel steamer, just in case.

8. Bring a Tide spot removal pen, and some powdered handwashing soap to wash items in the sink. Bring a small sprayer full of Febreeze to get smoke or other scents out of otherwise clean-enough-to-wear-again clothes.

9. Bring no more than 1-2 pairs of denim jeans. They are bulky, heavy and you can usually get 3 wearings out from a single pair before they need washing.

For any trip longer than 2-3 days, I use a bag big enough that it has to be checked. Some airlines are starting to charge for checked bags. I know for some travellers it's a matter of pride to be able to get two weeks' worth of stuff in a carry-on bag, but I reside somewhere between that extreme and Hadley Freeman, whom I'm guessing travels with a team of sherpas.

What are your packing philosophies and tips?

SATC Xtreme

For the serious fan with more money than sense:

The “Get Carried Away” package, priced at $3,200 for two, includes two nights’ lodging in an 850-square-foot executive suite, transportation to the premiere in a chauffeured Mercedes, VIP access to the official premiere after-party and a $600 gift certificate to shop at the Jimmy Choo boutique in Beverly Hills.

The City That Doesn't Sleep

Combine too much bad office coffee downed during interminably long meetings, a rich dinner with cocktails and wine and a double espresso to top it all off, a trash truck that seems to be circling the block only stopping to slap some dumpsters around every 10 minutes, and voila!... neither does une femme!!

New York State of Mind - Partie Un

New York is not a city for the indecisive or the broke. I discovered this when I first worked there in the early 80's. I had moved back east with my boyfriend (who would eventually achieve ex-husband status) attending graduate school. I'd been accepted at Rutgers as a transfer student, but couldn't get the financing together to cover my tuition, so off to Manhattan job hunting I went, in a hand-me-down and out-of-date skirt from my mother, a bow-neck blouse my grandmother had bought for me as a going away present, and a jacket that barely matched either. I was a bit shocked to learn that even with two years experience in the same field, the jobs I interviewed for paid little more than minimum wage, which would barely cover my monthly commuter pass on the train. So I responded to an ad from an employment "agency" which turned out to be one balding guy in a moldy office with a bottle of scotch in the desk drawer (he offered, I declined) and was soon employed at a direct reponse advertising agency. I worked there for two months (long story short, I was hired for one job but the deparment head decided she needed a personal assistant, so that's what I did) then was referred by a co-worker for a job at a TV sales rep firm, where I found my niche, employment-wise.

The culture, that took some getting used to. Most of the other "girls" I worked with (yes, we were still called girls then) still lived with their families, and would until they married. This seemed to be the norm for NY women my age; I don't know if it still is. At lunchtime I'd tag along and watch while they shopped. And shopped. Even on our meager salaries, they didn't think twice about blowing most of their paycheck on a pair of $200 boots. I was brown bagging cream cheese sandwiches, and splurging on the occasional postcard at Fiorucci. On the train, I'd observe the women in their good suits and Louis Vuitton bags, which I had never seen nor heard of until then, and make notes for the future when I joined their ranks. (Even though I don't like logos, I still have a nostalgic feeling when I see LV monogram bags, and always associate that brown and tan print with successful, sophisticated, professional women.)

I learned that if you were ordering coffee to go from a lunch counter that a) the person working behind the counter doesn't want you to waste his/her time with saying hello, or asking how they are and b) that if you want black coffee, you had to order "coffee, black." "Coffee, regular" meant coffee with milk and "coffee, light" meant with more milk. I learned that the Greek guys behind the lunch counter were always nice to young women and would sometimes give you a large salad when you'd ordered a small. I learned the difference between street harassment and a nice compliment from a stranger. I learned where to stand on the subway platform during rush hour to be able make it into the next train. I learned where you could buy a beer in a brown paper bag at Penn station for the Friday night ride home, and that there wasn't a bathroom at the junction where you caught the "Dinky" into Princeton proper.

Almost twenty years passed between the time I first worked in NY, and when I started travelling there for work. And in that time, the city seemed to have transformed into something a lot cleaner, a bit friendlier, and less foreign. In the early 80's, if someone bumped into you they'd growl or say "watch where you're going!" Now, they say "excuse me." But the biggest change isn't the city itself, it's being there with some financial resources behind me. The ability to afford a sit-down meal, a decent hotel room, (or in this case, be here on business and having most of my expenses covered) makes a huge difference in how I perceive this city. I loved it then, but felt like an outsider. I love it now, and feel like a welcome guest.

Room With A View

I can't determine from here if these are wedding dresses or white evening gowns, but will investigate further. It's a lovely display, but not quite the view I'd hoped for. Alas, it's Upfront Week and the hotel is quite full.

On the plus side, my co-workers and I had a lovely dinner last night, and when I unpacked my suitcase, was delighted to discover that underpacking had paid off...my trousers and jackets hadn't wrinkled!

Par avion

Une femme loves to fly. I love almost everything about it (except the lines and the hassle of practically stripping down to skivvies to go through security and then having to scramble to put everything back on and grab possessions off the conveyor and the appalling lack of legroom in coach, even for 5'1" me). I love the smell of jet fuel as you get close to the airport. I love seeing the planes lined up at the gates and love watching them take off and land. I love finding my seat and the acceleration as we take off. I love seeing the familiar and unfamiliar landscapes spread out like maps below me.

First flight, here's what I remember: I was 4, my sister 1-1/2. Being trussed up in our best clothes (fancy dresses, stiff petticoats, patent leather mary janes) and lectured about how we'd better behave, dammit. Passing through a large hangar-like building and crossing the tarmac and up the stair-on-wheels to board the plane. Jr. Hostess wings from the stewardesses (back then they were all female) and going up front to meet the pilots and see the cockpit. Chewing gum to make our ears pop. A hot meal with silverware (at that point the most elegant meal I'd had in my young life). Looking out the windows and playing with the shades. Saying "wheee!" when we hit turbulence. Using the (then) space-age potty. Landing in Chicago, sleepy. Light fixture on the ceiling at Midway airport looked like stars. Boarding the plane for Wheeling, having to walk uphill from the back of the plane to our seats. Little cloth curtains on the windows, and the wings had propellers. Waking up as we landed.

Another flight I'll never forget involved propellers as well. When I was 16, my mother, my sister and I had flown with another family to Vancouver, and were connecting to Victoria. My mother was a nervous flyer and hated smaller planes and propellers especially. When we got to the boarding area and she saw that our connecting flight involved both, she headed to the nearest bar and started drinking. By the time we took off, she was already at twenty thousand feet. It was a beautiful flight that stayed fairly low and we flew over pretty green islands, some with sheep on the hills. On landing, which was a little bumpy but nothing out of the ordinary, our mother threw her head into her lap and started screaming "we're going to DIE! We're going to DIE!" (Oh, and during the flight she'd burned a hole in her dress with her cigarette.) The whole cabin of twenty or so people cracked up but we pretended we didn't know her until we got into our rental car.

Then, for a lot of years, I didn't fly at all. When I did start flying again, it was a new era, no longer special or elegant. People in sweats pushed and shoved to board, the seats were sometimes covered in crumbs or stuffed with trash from the last occupant, the flight attendants were surly. It had become Greyhound with wings.

If you're reading this on Monday, I am probably somewhere between home and the airport, or waiting to board my flight, or 32,000 feet over Missouri, or landing in New York. But there's another flight I plan to take sometime in the few months, and it doesn't involve crowds or even pressurized cabins:I had planned to take a ride in an open cockpit bi-plane for my 50th birthday, but then we went to Paris instead. I had hip surgery a few weeks before my 51st birthday. But I'm not going to wait for another birthday to pass before I have this adventure. The ironic part is that mon mari hates flying, and so I'll probably have to take my son up with me. He shares my love of the wild blue yonder.

Nous Sommes En Vacances

Photo from here.

Mon mari is whisking me away today for a mini-vacances that involves a show, some spa time, some shopping and some good meals. (Actually, he needs the vacation more than I do, after the stress of keeping everything running smoothly at home while I was in the hospital and then recovering.) Posting will be light until early next week.

Fabulous! Festival - Travel Edition

Une femme is delighted to be hosting this go-round of the Fabulous! Festival. The theme for this Festival is Travel, and we received Fabulous submissions on many different facets of this topic. So many in fact, that we weren't able to feature them all, but we thank everyone who submitted.

Meg at All About Appearances tells us in Travelling in Style why appearances are as important as comfort, and how to have both. In fact, check out her entire series on Travelling in Style; there's beaucoup des conseils to keep you looking Fabulous on the move.

Fabulously Broke in the City gives some excellent advice about what footwear to bring and what to leave home in Travelling: Shoes, and helps bring out your inner McGyver in Things To Use in a Pinch When Travelling. And if you have trouble zipping your suitcase every time you pack, check out Travelling: Clothes to help pare down to essentials.

Icy at Individual Chic eschews boring touristy khaki and recommends some stylish Travel Wear.

D. Dottrey at STYLEnosh helps out with the number one travel mistake, overpacking. I'm going to bookmark LESSONS FROM OVERPACKING and review before our next trip!

Ashe Mischief at dramatis personae shares a recent Travel Trauma, and gives some great packing advice to avoid just such misfortunes.

Host Bee at Busy Bee Lifestyle offers some great no-nonsense tips about What To Wear on a Vacation to Paris. Oh la la, we love Paris!

Speaking of Paris, materfamilias has a nose for shoes like nobody's business. In "My Shoes Wednesdays" she features two pairs that she picked up in Paris, here and here, and waxes eloquent about travel, Paris, and the allure of Louboutins.

Shoes, teacups or whatever unique trinket strikes your fancy, souvenirs are a great way to bring back memories of your journeys. Shopping for them can be half the fun, and needn't break the bank. At Intelligent Travel, National Geographic Travel staffers reveal their favorite thrift stores around the world in Thrifty Souvenirs.

Not everyone is a Happy Wanderer. Some are afraid of flying, others have trouble sleeping in a strange bed. Tina Su at Think Simple. Be Decisive offers 3 Tips to Calm Anxiety which can help calm the mind and allow one to better enjoy the journey.

Catching a live performance is often on the agenda when travelling especially when visiting cities like New York and Las Vegas. Ruth at Buy Outside the Box says Cirque De Soleil is formidable, Art In Motion in fact.

On other topics:

Dealing with breast cancer or any other serious illness is a challenging and life-altering journey. Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog shares Makeup and Beauty Tips For Breast Cancer Patients: Staying Beautiful Inside and Out!


Miss Janey at HATtastic is hosting the next Fabulous! Festival and the topic is--Surprise!--Hats.

Miss Janey sez:
"It's all about the hats this edition! Do you wear them for fun or
only for practical reasons? Do you hate hats and refuse to wear them?
Do you like hats, but think you can't wear them? Do you have advice
for people who think they can't wear them? You're invited to submit
all your fabulous posts on hats, including about church hats, hat
tricks, mad hatters, etc., etc."

Deadline for submissions is November 23rd, and posts for consideration may be submitted here.

To those of you who are travelling for the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays or for any other reason, I wish you Safe Travels!

Voyages

Une femme has been bitten by the travel bug.


Ever since our Paris trip earlier this year, we've decided that we need to start making travel more of a priority in our lives, and are starting to make plans to actually see those places we always talk about visiting, though our next big trip is probably going to be a revenue à Paris, with maybe a side jaunt to London via the Chunnel.

Our Paris visit also taught me that I need to master the art of packing smarter. While everything I packed for Paris was fine and appropriate, there was entirely Too Much Of It, and I probably would have benefitted from fewer pieces in general but a greater percentage of which that were easily washed in the sink and dried over a towel rack in the bathroom.

In the past, when I've perused websites that specialize in "travel clothing", I've found the selections tended toward the frumpy, or were more appropriate for trekking through Machu Pichu than meandering the boulevards of Paris. Anyone else out there old enough to remember when Banana Republic was an actual travel wear catalog? (And the inspiration for the "J. Petermann Catalog" from Seinfeld.)

But I recently stumbled across the TravelSmith catalog/website again, and I have to admit I'm impressed. Where one used to find primarily baggy drawstring pants and oversized camp shirts, they now have some items that are more sophisticated and dressy.

Granted, these aren't ensembles you'd wear to Fashion Week in Milan, but how many of us really travel at that level? Once you get over believing you can blend in with the locals (face it, they probably have an armoire full of clean, pressed, tailored clothes at their disposal and you're living out of a suitcase), it becomes about balancing style with practicality.

Here are some items that caught my eye, and might be earmarked for a future travel wardrobe:

Short trench, $149.00

Shantung silk shirt,$89

Indispensable Dress, $89

Herringbone jacket, $79

Paisley cashmere-wool scarf, $89

French Lessons

When we first started making plans to visit Paris this last spring, my primary and overarching concern was What To Wear. I had no worries we'd figure out where to stay and eat and what to see, but I consulted every book and online source I could find about what to pack. I was determined to Not Look Like a Tourist. One website that was quite helpful was Paris Escapes, which also updates their "what to wear" by season.


It turned out I wasn't unique in this particular obsession; at the Fodor's discussion forum, about every other Paris thread addresses attire. Fodor's seems to have taken notice, and recently put together a guide that you can download and print, entitled C'est Super Chic: How Not to Look Like an American in Paris. It showcases three French style archetypes (based on age), rudimentary tips for tying a scarf, and general do's-and-don't's for dressing in Paris. If you're looking for basic information and have never travelled in Europe before, you might find this basic guide helpful, if a bit stereotypical.


While I did observe that not all Parisiennes are as super chic as the hype would have us believe, one style stereotype that holds true is that scarves are ubiquitous. Women of all ages and all styles utilize scarves to add an accent of color or texture to their ensembles, tied or draped in an almost infinite number of ways. Being less than talented in the clever scarf tying department, I was delighted to find that Hermes.com offers not one, but two downloadable pdf's (from the Scarves page, click on the "playtime with your scarf" link to the right) that each demonstrate different ways scarves can be worn, including as belts, skirts and tops. If one does not live near an Hermés boutique where one can get a scarf-tying lesson from the staff, this is the next best thing. (Une femme has a serious hankering for an Hermés scarf, which as yet remains unrequited.)


A scarf can be a fabulous accessory to turn up the chic on an otherwise ordinary ensemble. A well-chosen scarf can add a touch of color near the face, soften up an otherwise structured suit, rescue a bad hair day, or help define a waist. Scarves in all price ranges (and a few tried-and-true ways to wear them) are indespensable in a French woman's style arsenal, and a great way to some Parisienne flair to yours.

Une femme avec un fichu. Est-ce que c'est une Française?

Road Trip!!!

Une femme is hitting the asphalt with her human and canine entourage to visit family and friends over the next few days. Posting and comment moderation will be at the mercy of the WiFi Deities. Au revoir!